Pillow block



F. LEISTER PILLOW BLOCK Sept. 1, 1959- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 9,1957 INVENTQR Fayetife Leaszefi BY ATTOR EYS F. LEISTER 2,902, 2

PILLOW BLOCK Sept. 1, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 9, 1957 INVENT'ORFaye Z fie Letstefi BY ATTORNEYS U dstates Patent 2,902,320 PILLOW BLOCKFayette Leister, New Britain, Conn., assignor to The Fafnir BearingCompany, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut ApplicationOctober 9,1957, Serial'No, 689,233

9 Claims. (c1. 308E484) My invention relates to a' pillow block, andmore par- 2 Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken substantiallyin the plane of the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a plate forming half of the pillowblock;

Fig. 6 is a vertical axial sectional view through the pillow block shownin Fig. 2, illustrating the edge metal block .of the characterindicated, wherein the parts of the pillow block are formed asduplicates of each other and will interfit to provide a sturdy pillowblock.

Other objects andvarious features of novelty and invention will behereinafter pointed out or will become apparent to those skilled in theart. '7

v Brieflystated, in a preferredform of the invention the pillow blockconsists of a pair of sheet metal plates secured in face-to-facerelationship. The plates are duplicates of each other and each-plate isprovided with an annular outwardly directed housing flange forming onehalf-of the housing for a hearing, such. as an. antifriction bearing.Each plate, at each transverse end, has outstanding bearing foot forsupporting the pillow block on a support. Between the foot bearingflange and the upstanding plate from which the foot is turned, there isan outwardly pressed reinforcing rib preferably of generally rectangularform so as to provide a generally inverted V-shaped reinforcement whenviewed in section. Each of the outstanding feet has a bolt hole so thatfour bolts, .or the like, may bevemploy'ed for adequately-supporting thepillow block on a pillow block support.

In one form of the invention, the plates have edge metal bearingsurfaces for engagement with the pillow block support, and these edgemetal bearing surfaces are preferably flush with the bottoms of the feetturned out from the upstanding plates. In another form the plates haveoutwardly ldirected supporting flanges for direct engagement with thepillow block support, and these flanges provide a very substantialsupport for the pillow block. The bottoms of these outturned bearingflanges are substantially flush with the bottoms of the feet formed onthe pillow block halves so that the feet and the outturned supportingflanges are flush on the bottom.

The bearing in the housing may fit directly therein or there may be abushing interposed between the housing and the bearing, such bushingbeing formed of resilient material, such as rubber, or the like.

In the drawings which show, for illustrative purposes only, preferredforms of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a pillow block illustrating features of theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a view in axial elevation of the pillow block shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an edge view of the pillow block shown in quarter section andviewed substantially in the planes of the line 3-3;

surfaces forming a support for the pillow block, and also showing thehearing as being mounted directly in the bearing housing; d

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating amodification; V

Fig. 8 is a sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line88 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken substan tially in theplane of the line 99 of Fig. 7.

In said drawings, the pillow block consists of a pair of upright plates56 secured together by any suitable means, such as bolts, screws,rivets, or the like, 7, as Will be understood. Since these plates areexact duplicates to each other and may be formed by the same dies, thedescription of one plate will suffice adequately for both. The plate 5,for example, is first pierced, as indicated at 8, and the metal thenforced outwardly into the form of an outwardly directed annular flange 9forming half of the housing fora bearing in the pillow block. Ifdesired, the extreme end of the flange 9 may be turned inwardly, asindicated at 10, to form adequate housing and support for the bear-ing.These annular flanges 9 are preferably generally spherical in form atthe inside to permit some bearing self-alignment, as will be-understood.

Each plate at the bottom has .an outwardly \directed flat foot flange 11each of which has a hole 12 therein for reciving a securing bolt, or thelike, for securing a pillow block on a support. Between the upstandingplate 5 and the outwardly directed foot flange 11 there is ,asubstantial pressed out reinforcing rib 13, which may be and is shown asgenerally rectangular in horizontal cross section, as clearly shown.This reinforcing rib 13 is pressed out of metal of the plate 5 and ofthe foot flange 11, and extends upwardly to about the horizontal planethrough the axis of the hearing, as will be clear in Figs. 2 and 3.These reinforcing ribs 13 being integral as they are with both the feet11' and the upstanding side of the plate carrying the feet will giveadequate support to the plate and prevent distortion thereof duringoperation of the pillow block. These reinforcing ribs 13 on the twoplates 5--6 cooperate with each other and form a generally invertedV-shaped reinforcement, as shown particularly in Fig. 4. Thus, thishollow, generally triangular V-shaped truss gives the pillow block greatstrength against overturning on its feet 11 which feet, as stated, aresecurely held down to securing bolts or the like. It will be seen thatthese reinforcing ribs 13 are preferably inclined, each converginggenerally toward the center, as shown particularly in Fig. 2. These ribsare parallel to the tangents to the annular flanges 9 below the centerof the housings. Thus, these ribs give adequate cross support againstbending of the upstanding plates in a direction transverse to the ribs13.

In the form shown in Figs. 1 to 6 the plates have edge metal bearingsurfaces 14 for engagement with the support for the pillow block. Theseedge metal surfaces 14 are preferably flush with the bottoms of theoutturned foot portions 11 on each plate so that the pillow block isadequately supported onthe edge metal surface 14 and on the outturnedflanges 11.

In the form illustrated in Fig. 3 the bearing comprises an outer ring,an inner ring and antifriction bearing members, such as balls. The outerring 15 is not mounted directly in the housing, but in a bushing such asa bushing 16 of resilient material, such as artificial rubber or V 3 thelike. Thus, with such need not be finished at the outside and yet willbe adequately supported and due to the rubber bushing there will be someself-alignment of the bearing in the housing.

In the form shown in Fig. 6, the outer ring 17 is of generally sphericalouter contour and fits within the generally spherical housing surfaces18 formed'by the outturned bearing flanges 9, as will be clear. Whilesome self-alignment will be provided for that form shown in Fig. 3, someself-alignment will also be possible with the form shown in Fig. 6.However, it is preferable to align the bearing in the housing and thensecure the two plates securely so as to turn the bearing in position.

In that form shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, the plates are exactly the sameas heretofore described, except that instead of having the plateswithedge metal surfaces in contact with the support there are outwardlydirected bearing flanges 20 which extend outwardly slightly more thanthe extent to which the annular housing flanges 9 extend. These bearingflanges 20' could be integral with the foot flanges 11, but asillustrated are separated therefrom and they form adequate plate bearingsurfaces for the pillow block on the pillow block support. The bottomsof the flanges 20 are preferably flush with the bottoms of the bearingfeet 11 on the plates so that the entire pillow block will be supportedin flush fashion on its support.

It will be seen that in all forms, the plates have adequate supportingsurfaces on the support and the supporting sunfaces of either edge metalor of outturned flanges 20, may be flush with the bottoms of thesecuring feet without danger of having the feet snap off by drawing downthe securing bolts too tightly. The bearings may be mounted directly inthe housings, as indicated in Fig. 6, or on rubber bushings or the like,as indicated in Fig. 3. In any event, the bearings are adequatelysupported within the housings. The annular housing flanges 9 themselvesform extending reinforcements for the plates which resist bending orother distortion, and the reinforcing ribs 13 pressed out of and joiningthe metal of the plates and the supporting feet form strong integralreinforcements against tipping of the bearing on its bearing feet and toresist other distortion of the plates or the feet.

While the invention has been described in considerable detail andpreferred forms illustrated, it will be understood that changes andmodifications may be made within the scope of the invention, as definedin the appended claims.

I claim:

a bushing the outer ring 15 1. In a pillow block, a pair of plates to besecured together in face-to-face relation, each plate having atransversely extending annular flange, said flanges being complementaryto each other to form a housing for a bearing, each plate having atransversely outwardly directed bottom flange at the bottom to form apart to engage a support to carry the pillow block, said bottom flangeand an adjacent upstanding part of each plate having a swaged outreinforcing hollow rib integrally joining said bottom flange and saidupstanding plate, said reinforcing hollow rib extending upwardly on saidupstanding plate and being located in spaced relation to the adjacentouter side edge of the plate and to the adjacent side of the saidannular. flange.

2. In the combination defined in claim 1, said reinforcing rrib beinggenerally rectangular in horizontal section.

3. In the combination defined in claim 1, said reinforcing rib beinginclined inwardly toward the center of the bottom of the plate so as tobe parallel to a tangent to said housing below the horizontal centerthereof.

4. In the combination defined in claim 1, said bottom flange extendingonly to the side edge of the plate and constituting a foot for thepillow block.

5. In the combination defined in claim 1, said plates between the endshaving metal edges to engage the support aforesaid.

6. In the combination defined in claim 1, said plates having outstandingbase flanges intermediate the ends for engagement with the supportaforesaid.

7. In the combination defined in claim 1, each said plates having ahollow rib as aforesaid at each lateral end.

8. In the combination defined in claim 1, said plates each forming halfof the pillow block and each half being a duplicate of the other.

9. In the combination defined in claim 8, the said hollow ribs at eachend of the pillow block being complementary to each other and togetherforming a generally inverted V-shaped reinforcement when viewed inlongitudinal section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,439,269 Shafer Apr. 9, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 156,564 Australia May 18,1954

